Electric switch.



No. 727,206. PATBNTED MAY 5, 190'3Q v. BOYLE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4. 1902.

K0 MODEL.

110,727,206. P'ATENTED MAY 5, 1903. v. ROYLE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

HPLIOAT ON FILED MAR. 4. 1902.

no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

UNITED STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

VERNON BOYLE, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727.206, dated May 5,1903.

Application filed. March 4, 1902-* To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VERNON BOYLE, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented a new and useful Electric Switch, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to an electric switch, the object being to providea durable switch that shall be positive in its action and capable ofready use in connection with a variety of machines driven by electricmotors or in which electricity is relied upon as the source of power.

The switch is essentially self-contained and arranged to be operated byhand and foot power, one or both, and also arranged to be applied to theunder side of a support or to the side of a vertical support, as may befound most convenient. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the switchapplied tothe under side of a table, showing the handle for operating it by handand also the means for attaching foot-power thereto, if desired. Fig. 2is a top plan View of the same, the table being broken away to show theswitch casing or box more clearly. Fig. 3 is a section through the same,taken in the plane of the line A A of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents theswitch applied to a vertical wall, the bottom of the switch box orcasing being toward the observer and partially broken away to disclosethe contactpiece within it and also showing a foot-treadle in connectiontherewith for operating it. Fig. 5 is a view of the same in edgeelevation, the treadle being omitted. Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view, on asmaller scale, of a modified form; and Fig. 7 is a sectional View indetail of the modified form of arm represented'in Fig. 6 for attachingeither a handle or treadle thereto at pleasure.

The casing or box consists of a skeleton plate a, provided withsupporting-arms extending upwardly from its periphery, in the presentinstance three arms (denoted by b 1) b located at equal distances apartand terminating in heads 0 0 0 respectively, for the purpose ofreceiving screw-bolts or screws cl for fastening the casing either tothe under side of a table 6, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, or to a verticalwall 6, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Serial No. 96,670. (No model.

The skeleton plate a is further provided with an outwardly anddownwardly projecting arm f, the free end of which provides apoint forattaching one end of the switch-operating springg, to be hereinaftermore particularly referred to.

A hollow cover h is arranged to fasten on the plate a with its peripherywithin the arms I) b b for the purpose of protecting the operating partsof the switch from dust or other foreign substances and also fromdamage.

The housing It forms an effective closure for the side of the plate aand the parts carried thereby save only where it is cut away at h foradmitting the wires to the several binding-posts carried by the plate a.The housing or cover it is fitted to be fastened to the bases of thearms b b b in the present instance by screws h?and as these intervals offastening are at equal distances apart the said housing or cover may besecured in diffcrent rotary adjustments to bring the wireadmissionopening into the most convenient position. The opposite side of theplate a and the parts carried thereby are also protected by a plate 71,which is fastened on the edge of a flange at, extending laterally fromand preferably formed integral with the plate a. This plate i is,however, cut away for a distance corresponding to an arc of about fiftydegrees, more or less, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1, for the purposeof permitting-the switch-operating arm j to swing to make and breakcircuit.

The switch-operating-arm j is mounted on and insulated from abinding-post it, set in and insulated from the hub a of the plate a. Thebinding-post k for this purpose is provided with a flange or collar 70,(see Fig. 3,) held from one end of the hub a by an interposed piece ofinsulation and drawn against the end of the hub by means of a nut 70working on a washer 70 held from the opposite end of the hub a by aninterposed piece of insulating material. Below the flange or collar 1cthere is asleeve Z, insulated from the walls of an openingj' in the endof the arm j, the said sleeve being held in position on the binding-post70 by means of a washer Z and cotter P. The contact-piecea broad fiatplate of metal, preferably copper-is denoted by m (see Figs. 3 and l)and has one end fixed to and insulated from the arm j by means of ascrew m and-suitable insulating material, the said contact-piece mpassing thence between the sleeve Z and flange or collar It on thebinding-post k, a hole being made through the plate for the passage ofthe binding-post, so that as the arm j is swung it will carry with it,swinging on the binding-post as a center, the contact-piece m, therebycausing the free end of the contact-piece to pass into engagement withand out of engagement with the binding-posts n and a, (see Figs. 3 and4B,) the former intended to receive a wire leading to the field of themotor and the latter a wire leading to the armature of the motor, whilethe line-wire is intended to be connected with the binding-post 7c, thelatter being in electrical contact with the contact-piece m by theengagement of the flange or collar 70 on the binding-post 7a with thecontact-piece m.

The binding-posts n and 'n" are fixed in and insulated from the plate a,and a third post 71 is also fixed to the plate a, corresponding with theposts 01 and at, for receiving the contactpiece m when it is swung outof engagement with the posts 71 n and holding it in position to he slidinto contact with the posts at 12 to complete circuit through the motorat pleasure.

The arm j is provided with a lugj for the attachment of the one end ofthe spring g, the opposite end of which is, as heretofore stated,attached to the end of the arm f. The attachment of the spring 9 to thearmfis intended to be substantially on the line passing through the axisof the binding-post 70 and the middle point of the swinging movement ofthe arm j, so that the spring g when the arm is swung to the limit ofits movement in each of two opposite directions will be permitted tocollapse to a sufficient degree so that the strain exerted upon thespring g when the arm j is swung from the middle of its movement in onedirection toward the middle of its movement in the opposite directionwill be sufficient to cause the spring to quickly throw the arm throughthe second half of its movement afterit has passed center in whicheverway the armj be swung.

The armj is provided with means for attaching a handle 0 thereto, sothat the operator may convenientlyswing the arm by hand, and it is alsoprovided with an extension 0 for the attachment of a foot-treadlethereto.

Inthe form shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the extension 0 is formedintegral with the hub of the armj and extends from the hub at an angleto the arm j, while in Figs. 6 and 7 the armj itself is provided with aperforation 0 at the point near where the handle 0 is attached for thepurpose of attaching the foot-lever directly to the body of the arm 0instead of to an extension of said arm. In either case the handle 0 ismade removable from the arm j, conveniently by a screwthreaded shank 0(see Fig. 7,) by means of which it is screwed into or out of the end ofthe arm 7, Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, or into and out of the arm 7' Figs.6 and 7, the armj corresponding in all respects to the arm j, save onlythat it has the additional feature of the hole 0 for attaching thefoot-treadlethereto.

The foot-treadle is denoted by p, is fulcrumed on a suitable support q,and adapted to receive the pressure of the foot of the operator at eachof its opposite ends, as at 2119 It is connected by a rod r either withthe extension 0 from the hub of the arm j or with the arm 7' direct inthe event the form represented in Figs. 6 and '7 is employed.

In operation the current is thrown off by swinging the armj or 7' inadirection to slide the contact-piece at out of engagement with thebinding-posts a n and into engagement with the dead post 91 and thecurrent is thrown on by swinging the said contact-piece from the deadpost a into engagement with the binding-posts n a. In whichever Way thearm j or 7' be swung and whether it be swung by pressure on the handle 0or the one or the other end of the treadle 19 the moment the arm swingspast center with respect to its actuating-spring 9 it will be promptlythrown to the full limit of its movement in that direction, therebyeither insuring a complete making of the circuit or an efiectualbreaking of the circuit, as the case may be. The switch is thus completein itself, maybe sold as an article of manufacture to be applied tomachines of various kinds, requiring but little or no skill to set it upin working order, as itis complete even beforeitis attached to themachine, and requiring only the turning of the screws in itssupporting-arms to fasten it for use. It is capable of being shiftedaround and attached to such part of the machine as will bring it withinconvenient reach of the hand or foot of the operator and may either beset in a horizontal or vertical position, while its parts are so strongand firmly connected and mounted that it will not be liable to get outof order, but will do its work efiiciently and will be subject to veryinconsiderable wear.

What I claim is 1. An electric switch comprising a skeleton plateprovided with fastening-arms projecting from one side and aspring-supporting arm projecting from the opposite side, a binding-postat the hub of the plate, a swinging operating-arm mounted on andinsulated from the binding-post,an operating-spring connecting theswinging operating-arm and the said spring-supporting arm, acontact-piece carried by the swinging arm, and contact-pieces on thesaid skeleton plate in position to engage and disengage thecontact-piece, on the swinging arm.

2. The combination with the main plate provided with a flange extendinglaterally from its rim, the said flange being omitted along a portion ofthe rim of the plate, of a swinging operating-arm fulcrumed at the hubof the plate and having a swinging movement between the ends of the saidflange, a spring connected with the swinging arm in position to be undertension when the arm is at the middle of its swinging movement and tocollapse to throw the arm to the limit of its move ment in oppositedirections from the center contact-pieces fixed on the plate and acontact-piece carried by the swinging arm in position to engage anddisengage the contactpieces on the plate.

3. An electric switch comprising a box or casing consisting of a centralplate with supporting-arms extending from one side thereof and aspring-support extending from the opposite side thereof, coversremovably secured to the opposite sides of the plate, a bindingpostextending through the hub of the plate, an operating-lever fulcrumed onandinsulated from the said binding-post, a spring for throwing theoperating-lever toward the limit of its movement in each of two oppositedirections, a contact-piece carried by the opcrating-arm andbinding-posts fixed tothe plate in position to engage and disengage thecontact-piece carried by the arm.

4:. A self-contained electric switch comprising a main plate, a coverfitted thereto provided with an opening for the admission of electricwires, means for attaching the cover to the main plate in difierentrotary adjustments to bring the wire-admission opening into convenientposition, an operating-arm and contact-pieces in position to make andbreak circuit as the arm is swung.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 13th day of February, 1902.

VERNON ROYLE.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, 0. S. SUNDGREN.

